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Coronavirus India Updates: With nine new deaths recorded Monday, Mumbai’s death toll in coronavirus touched 100. A total of 150 new cases were also recorded taking the total count to 1,549 in the city. The number of cases in Maharashtra crossed 2,000 mark on Monday. With 352 new cases, state’s tally now stood at 2,334, of which 1,549 cases were reported from Mumbai alone.
The Health Ministry on Monday reported 51 deaths in last 24 hours, the highest single day spike, as the total number of cases stood at 9,352. The toll rose to 324. Health Secretary Luv Aggarwal Monday said that 905 new positive cases and 51 deaths due to the coronavirus were recorded in the last 24 hours in the country. In its daily briefing, the Union Health Ministry said no new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected in 25 districts from 15 states of the country in the last 14 days.The ministry also said that over two lakh tests for COVID-19 have been conducted so far and they have enough stock to conduct tests for six weeks.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s total tally stood at 1,173 while its capital Chennai crossed 200-mark on Monday. Seventeen districts have been marked red (high alert zone).
Here is a look at all the latest coronavirus updates today:
In another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi urged him to provide 10 kg grains per person free of cost to those who are vulnerable and beneficiaries of National Food Security Act (NFSA) till September this year.
In her letter, Sonia lauded Modi’s decision to provide 5 kg of grain per person in addition to the entitlements under the NFSA and asked him to consider a few suggestions.
Her letter comes a few days after she had written to the Prime Minister suggesting ‘austerity measures’ to divert funds for battling the coronavirus outbreak, among others.
Hours after Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court, urging it to dismiss the petition on which it ordered free testing for COVID-19 in private laboratories, the apex court stated that the benefit of free testing in private labs is only for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and for those covered by Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme.
The Supreme Court also asked the central government to inform within a week, about any other EWS are also eligible for free tests.
Beginning Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh will begin pool testing of coronavirus suspects to expedite COVID-19 testing, claiming it is the first state in the country to do so. The clearance for the same has been granted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The state reported 67 new positive cases in the past 24 hours taking the total count to 550 cases.
Antiviral drug Remdesivir, which was used against Ebola virus, may affect the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2 too, Dr R R Gangakhedkar, head of the division of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said on Monday.
Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences Inc, has also shown promise against MERS and SARS.
Saying that an observational study showed two out of three patients who needed ventilator had benefited from this drug, Dr Gangakhedkar said this is one arm of SOLIDARITY trial — the one launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month.
In its daily briefing, the Union Health Ministry said no new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected in 14 districts of the country in the last 14 days. These include Gondia in Maharashtra, Raj Nand Gaon, Durg, Bilaspur in Chattisgarh, Davangiri, Kodagu, Tumkuru, Udupi in Karnataka, South Goa in Goa, Wayanad, Kottayam in Kerala, West Imphal in Manipur, Rajouri in J&K, Aizwal West in Mizoram, Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda & Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand, Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.
Health Secretary Luv Aggarwal said 796 new positive cases and 35 deaths due to the coronavirus were recorded in the last 24 hours in the country. The overall cases in country rose to 9,152 cases with 308 deaths.n country rose to 9,152 cases with 308 deaths.
Tamil Nadu on Monday announced that it would extend the lockdown till April 30 in order to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state. With this, Tamil Nadu became the seventh state after Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana to take such a step. In Tamil Nadu, existing restrictions to continue till April 30. Rice cardholders to be provided with sugar, dal and other essentials at free of cost for the month of May. Rs 1,000 to be given as compensation for all registered workers in the unorganised sector.
The government on Monday extended on gratis basis the regular visa and e-visa of foreign nationals who are stranded in India due to COVID-19 till April 30, the Home Ministry said. The foreign nationals are stranded in the country due to the 21-day lockdown announced on March 24 to curb the spread of the disease.
“Regular visa, e-visa or stay stipulation, of such foreign nationals who have been stranded in India because of spread of COVID-19 in many parts of the world, and due to consequent travel restrictions imposed by Indian authorities and whose visas have expired or would be expiring during February 1 (Midnight) to April 30 (Midnight), would be extended till April 30 (Midnight) on GRATIS basis, after making online application by the foreigner,” a home ministry statement said.
With the 21-day lockdown set to come to an end on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 am tomorrow.
Last month, the prime minister had addressed the nation twice — on March 19 and March 24. On March 19, he had called for resolve and restraint to fight coronavirus. He had also announced a ‘janata curfew’ on March 22, a Sunday. On March 24, he had announced the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the deadly virus.
At least 82 people tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra on Monday, taking the state tally to 2,064, a state health official said. Among the new cases, 59 were reported from Mumbai city and 12 from Malegaon tehsil in Nashik district. Besides, five cases were reported from Thane, three from Pune, twofrom Palghar, and one Vasai-Virar (township in Palghar district), the official said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said out of the 58 ‘missing’ Tablighi Jamaat members who attended the group’s religious gathering at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month, 40 have been traced and quarantined. The remaining 18 members of the Islamic group are still missing and efforts are on to trace them, the minister told PTI.
Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia in Mumbai, recorded yet another death and four more Covid-19 cases on Monday, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. With this, the total number of deaths in Dharavi has gone up to five, he added.
Three fresh cases were reported from Madina Nagar, Janata Cooperative Housing Society and Gulmohar chawl of Dharavi. Besides, the samples of a 60-year-old man from Nehru chawl, who died at Sion Hospital, came out positive for the viral disease, the BMC official said. “High risk contact tracing is being done,” he added.
Twenty-two new coronavirus cases were reported in Gujarat on Monday, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 538, an official said. With two more deaths in the region, the total rose to 26 today, the official added.
Among the new cases, 13 were reported from Ahmedabad, five from Surat, two from Banaskantha, and one each from Anand and Vadodara, principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said. With this, the total number of cases in Ahmedabad rose to 295, the highest in the state, she said.
Three patients were discharged as well after recovery, she added.
Restrictions have been intensified in declared red zones across the Kashmir valley, with authorities warning of stern action against those violating prohibitory orders.
Main roads in most places in the valley have been sealed off while barriers at several other places have been erected to check any unwanted movement, officials said. Only persons with valid passes are allowed to move, they added.
The western state recorded 11 more cases of coronavirus on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 815, an official said. Eleven people have died due to the infected so far.
“As many as 11 new cases have come up today, including 10 in Bharatpur and one in Banswara district of the state,” Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.
The total cases of coronavirus in Rajasthan include two Italian citizens, 52 people who have been brought from Iran to the army health centres in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Jaipur has reported the highest number of 341 cases so far.
The number of cases in Jharkhand rose to 19 after two more people tested positive in Bokaro district, officials said on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said two men, one aged 68 and another 45, tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday night. The two, who hail from Bokaro district’s Sadam village, are relatives of the 72-year-old man who died of the disease on April 8, he said.
With the two fresh cases, the total count in Bokaro went up to eight, Kumar added.
Google chief Sundar Pichai has donated Rs 5 crore to Give India, a non-profit organisation, to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Taking to Twitter, the NGO said, “Thank you @sundarpichai for matching @Googleorg’s Rs 5 crore grant to provide desperately needed cash assistance for vulnerable daily wage worker families.”
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath has expressed concern over shifting of some NSA detainees from one district to another, fearing the spread of coronavirus. This could spread the viral disease in other districts, he said.
“It is surprising that while there is lockdown in the state, many districts are under curfew and their boundaries sealed in view of the coronavirus scare and people not being allowed to move from one district to other, in such a scenario those detained under NSA in Indore were sent to Satna and they were found coronavirus positive,” Nath tweeted on Sunday. “This way corona infection will spread in other districts also,” he further said in a tweet in Hindi.
Here’s a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Here’s why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?
